A blog for vintage Barbie collectors, and all those who loved Barbie growing up and still love her today! For more detailed information on the complete vintage era, foreign dolls, history, and even some newer dolls, please visit my reference website at: www.MyVintageBarbies.com

Monday, June 23, 2014

Julia,
the second doll in the Barbie line to be fashioned after a real live person, debuted
in 1969.

Julia

This
pretty lady was based on Diahann Carroll’s character from the NBC television comedy
show “Julia”, a nurse and single widowed mother living in Los Angeles working
and raising her young son Corey.She was
the first African-American actress to star in her own television show.The popular sitcom ran from September 1968 to
March 1971.

Julia (stock
#1127) came with a twist ‘n turn body, bendable legs, rooted eyelashes, and was
made from the same head mold as Christie.

Julia dressed in her two piece nurses uniform (1969)

In 1969 the talking version of Julia (stock
#1128) was also released.She had bendable
legs and rooted eyelashes as well.To
hear her talk, simply pull on her string on the back of her neck, and the voice
that would speak back to you would be that of Diahann Carroll.

Talking
Julia wore the same outfit the entire time she was on the market. It was a one
piece flashy glittery gold and silver jumpsuit with matching attached belt and hard
to find glittery gold open toe heels.

Julia’s
hair style remained the same until 1971.The twist-n- turn dolls all had short black straight hair, which
sometimes oxidizes to a pretty red color.The talking dolls released in 1969 and 1970 had the same straight hair
too.In 1971 Talking Julia’s hair
changed to a fuller curly cut, and her skin tone was darker as well.

1969 - 1970 Talking Julia and 1971 Talking Julia

Julia
was the same size as Barbie, so she shared her entire wardrobe.She did have four outfits that were exclusively
made for her; #1751 Leather Weather, #1752 Brrr-Furr (which came in lime green
or the hard to find red variation), #1753 candlelight Capers, and #1754 Pink
Fantasy.All of these were available
from 1969-1970.

Julia
only had one gift set, a Sears exclusive called “Simply Wow” (stock #1594)
which was released in 1969. The boxed set included a Talking Julia doll dressed
in her original outfit, a blue knit dress with white satin bodice that had a six
tier gold braided trim at the waist. There is one layer of trim around the
neckline too. A matching blue waist
length jacket with gold trim and blue chunky heels completed the set.The set originally sold for 9.99 in the Sears
Catalog.

Simply Wow Gift set

40
years later in 2009, a reproduction of the first 1969 TNT version was released
in honor of Barbie’s 50th anniversary.

2009 Reproduction Julia

Celebrity
dolls continue to be a popular item with collectors, and there are new ones
added to the Mattel family of Barbie’s quite often.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Barbie’s latest adventure takes
her to Southeast Oregon, one of the most remote and non‐touristy
areas of the state. This trip didn't feature lush hotels, amazing
restaurants, and flashy places of interest. This vacation was everything but
that!

Pulling a house on wheels behind a 4x4 pickup, Barbie saw the most
amazing scenery, an abundance of beautiful wild flowers,

Beautiful Desert Flowers

and a variety of
wildlife in their natural habitat. The tasty well planned home cooked meals and
every comfort possible in a 23 foot travel trailer made this "mans"
trip possible!

And wild animals

The first four nights were spent
exploring Frenchglen, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and the magnificent
Steen’s Mountains. Even though the Mosquitoes were early (usually
unbearable in late June and July), that didn't stop any exploring.

There were
so many varieties of beautiful birds, too many to count, including a Golden
Eagle that was sunning himself in the middle of the road (unfortunately, so
amazed by the beauty of this majestic bird, no one thought to grab their
camera!).

A few of the many birds that can be found in the area

Much of the trip consisted of driving on gravel roads,
through teeny tiny towns, gawking at the rim rock, or just waiting patiently
for cows and their calves to yield the right of way. In this part of the
country cattle share the road (open range) with vehicles. Every turn brought
something unexpected, but very special.

Cows roaming freely down the road

The next two nights were spent
at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, which was established in 1936. Once
on the refuge it didn't take long to spot pronghorns (antelope) roaming in a
wide open desert that consisted mostly of sage brush, with a backdrop of rolling
hills and Hart Mountain looming above. This is definitely "big
sky" country!

Pronghorns (antelope) at Hart Mountain

The house on wheels parked at a primitive camp spot
that had two wonderful hot springs. The mosquitoes weren't much of an issue at
this higher elevation, so it was a great time to do a little exploring on
mountain bikes as well as some hiking. Each day ended with a dip in the
100 degree water bubbling from below into the developed hot spring at Hot
Springs campground. The second spring is undeveloped and was almost too
warm to linger very long, so Barbie just dangled her feet there.

Developed and Undeveloped Hot Springs at Hot Springs campground

You also
couldn’t help but notice the comprehensive sign posted at the campground which
detailed best practices in case of a rattlesnake bite.

Here's a smaller rattlesnake that was spotted on a hike.

The final leg of this journey
consisted of driving down the other side of Hart Mountain, which was very steep
and curvy. The truck and trailer crept the last 2 miles, until it was
safely off the slope. After going through a lot of sage brush and farm
land, still more small towns and a stop in Lakeview for gas, Barbie visited
Fort Rock, a volcanic crater out in the middle of nowhere, for additional
sightseeing.

Fort Rock

The day ended in beautiful La
Pine State Park in Central Oregon, which is nestled on the banks of the
Deschutes River. This is where the trailer parked for the final two
nights of this fascinating journey.

La Pine State Park: Barbie sitting in front of Big Tree,
the largest Ponderous Pine in circumference in Oregon (28 feet, 11 inches). It
is 162 Feet tall and 500 years old.

The region around La Pine has so
many choices for each day, but the one place that’s a must is Newberry National
Volcanic Monument. Besides all the hiking, biking, fishing and boating
that's available, the area has many interesting places to see.

There is Paulina
Lake and East Lake, both located at an elevation of over 6300 feet. Nearby is
Lava River Cave.At one mile it’s the
longest lava tube cave in Oregon. At Lava Lands Visitor Center you can drive to the top of Lava Butte
Cinder Cone (5020 feet), or if you want to go even higher in elevation,
you can drive to Paulina Peak (7984 feet), but it’s a very narrow and
unimproved road.Both offer very
impressive views. Another highlight is
Big Obsidian Flow, which has over 170 million cubic yards of obsidian and
pumice, and is the youngest lava flow in Oregon (1,300 years old). It’s
amazing to see the vast amount of obsidian piled up in one place. If
you like waterfalls, there are two completely different ones; Paulina Falls and
Benham Falls, which are breathtaking and worth the short hike to each.
Newberry Volcano is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range, and there is much
more to see than you will have time for in one entire day.

Newberry National
Volcanic Monument

Exploring unconventional places
can be one of the most relaxing, interesting, and truly memorable vacations.

Subscribe via email! All new posts will be sent directly to your email!

Follow this Blog!

Visit my web site for even more information!

If you enjoy this blog or my website, please follow me on Facebook too. Thank you so much!

Search For Your Favorite Doll! #ad

Search This Blog

About Me

I'm Marie, and as you can see I love collecting Barbie. I've been collecting vintage Barbie dolls for over twenty-five years!I'm married to my high school sweetheart, and we have three children, five grandchildren, and a loveable Standard Poodle puppy. We live in the beautiful state of Oregon on five peaceful acres. Country living is just the best! We are close to the Ocean, which is my favorite, and we are a short drive to the mountains as well. Oregon has the best of both worlds! We also love photography and traveling, so you'll find a bit of that here too.

Be sure to check out my reference web site! There is so much information and history!

My Hubby, Keith

Wilson

Our Standard Poodle

Disclosure:

eBay & Amazon Affiliate - When you click through to buy products I may earn a very small compensation. Your purchase helps keep My Vintage Barbies blog and website up to date for my readers. Thank you so much for your support!